IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

 

DOLORES BARRETT :

Plaintiff :

: CIVIL ACTION NO. 02-4421

v. :

:

THE GREATER HATBORO CHAMBER :

OF COMMERCE, INC., ET AL. :

Defendants :

SCHEDULING ORDER

 Tucker, J.

 

AND NOW, this 16th day of January, 2004, IT IS ORDERED as follows:

1. A settlement conference shall be held before Magistrate Judge Caracappa at the

end of discovery and before the parties file summary judgment motions. Plaintiff's counsel shall

contact Judge Caracappa for the date and time. 

Counsel are encouraged to request a voluntary settlement conference as early in the

discovery process as they feel it will be productive. A settlement conference will be scheduled upon

agreement of all counsel. Unless the court authorizes an exception, such agreement constitutes

counsel's certification that there is a reasonable possibility of settlement and that the party

represented by counsel will engage in good faith negotiations to resolve the litigation. 

At any settlement conference, counsel shall have his/her client or a person authorized

by his/her client with unlimited authority to settle at the conference or available by telephone during

the entire conference.

Discovery

2. All discovery shall proceed forthwith and continue in such manner as will assure

that all requests for, and responses to, discovery will be noticed, served and completed by Monday,

May 17, 2004. Discovery may take place thereafter by agreement of the parties without court

approval, so long as the trial will not be delayed and trial preparation will not unreasonably be

disrupted. No discovery may take place during the trial unless directed by the court. 

In all pro se cases, the defendant shall, within thirty (30) days from the date of this

order, take the oral deposition of the pro se plaintiff, unless the court excuses such discovery upon

motion made and good cause shown by any defendant governed by this requirement. The taking of

this preliminary deposition of a pro se plaintiff shall not preclude a defendant from taking a later

deposition if it is otherwise permissible under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

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3. Plaintiff shall comply with the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2) for

disclosure of expert testimony forty (40) days prior to the close of the discovery period.

4. Defendant shall comply with the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2) for

disclosure of expert testimony twenty (20) days prior to the close of the discovery period.

Motions

5. The parties shall not file any summary judgment motions before attending a

settlement conference with Magistrate Judge Caracappa. All motions to amend the complaint, join

or add additional defendants or name John Doe defendants shall be filed within 60 days of the date

of this order. All motions for summary judgment or partial summary judgment shall be filed and

served on or before Friday, July 16, 2004. All briefs filed in opposition shall be filed and served

on or before Friday, July 30, 2004. All motions in limine shall be filed and served at least five (5)

business days before the trial date. All other motions shall be filed and served prior to the close of

the discovery period. Any motions filed in violation of this order shall be deemed waived unless

good cause is shown.

All briefs must be on 8.5 by 11 inch sequentially numbered pages. The text must be

double-spaced. Headings and footnotes may be single-spaced. The font must be twelve (12) point.

The margins must be one (1) inch on all four sides. No brief filed in support of or in opposition to

any motion shall exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length without prior leave of court. Any brief

filed in support of or in opposition to any motion that exceeds ten (10) pages in length must be

accompanied by a table of contents. Reply briefs are generally not helpful and are discouraged by

the court; as such, reply briefs cannot be filed without prior leave of court. A reply brief is limited

to a maximum of seven (7) pages, and must be filed within five (5) business days of the filing of the

opposing party's response. 

6. In addition to a brief, any party filing a motion for summary judgment or partial

summary judgment shall file a separate, short and concise statement, in numbered paragraphs, of the

material facts as to which the party contends there is no genuine issue to be tried. The party must

support each of the material facts with specific citations to the underlying record, and attach a copy

of the relevant portions of that record, if practicable and not already of record. Failure to submit

such a statement of material facts with citations may constitute ground for denial of the motion.

The opposing party shall file a separate, short and concise statement, responding to

the numbered paragraphs in the moving party's statement, of the material facts as to which the

opposing party contends there is a genuine issue to be tried and shall conform to the record citation

requirements listed above. All factual assertions set forth in the statement required to be served by

the moving party shall be deemed admitted unless controverted by the statement required to be

served by the opposing party.

Trial

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7. All parties shall prepare and file with the Clerk of Court and opposing counsel

their pretrial memoranda, in accordance with Local Rule 16.1(c)(1) - (7), inclusive, as follows:

A. Plaintiff - at least twenty (20) days prior to the trial date.

B. Defendant - at least ten (10) days prior to the trial date.

8. Any party having an objection to the admissibility of any exhibit based on

authenticity or the adequacy of the qualifications of an expert witness expected to testify, shall set

forth separately each such objection in their pretrial memorandum. Such objection shall describe

with particularity the ground and the authority for the objection.

9. The case will be placed on the court's trial list on November 1, 2004.

10. Because a witness may be unavailable at the time of trial as defined in Federal

Rule of Civil Procedure 32(a)(3), the court expects use of oral or videotape depositions at trial of any

witness whose testimony a party believes is essential to the presentation of that party's case, whether

that witness is a party, a non-party or an expert. The unavailability of any such witness will not be

a ground to delay the commencement or progress of the trial. Any oral or videotape deposition for

use at trial shall be held at least five (5) business days before the trial date. 

11. Any party who contends or will contend that the proposed testimony of any

expert witness requires a Daubert hearing must file a motion with the Clerk of Court at least thirty

(30) days prior to the trial date so that the hearing can be held prior to trial and without impinging

upon the jury's time. The motion must thoroughly set forth valid reasons for the challenge.

In the event a deposition is to be offered at trial, the offering party shall file with the

court, prior to the commencement of the trial, a copy of the deposition transcript, but only after all

efforts have been made to resolve objections with other counsel. Portions of the deposition offered

by the plaintiff shall be marked in blue; portions offered by the defendant, in red. Where a court

ruling is necessary, the basis for unresolved objections shall be stated in five (5) words or less in the

margin of the deposition page(s) and a covering list of such objections supplied therewith. 

12. (JURY CASES ONLY) All proposed jury instructions shall be numbered and

shall have citations of authority for each point (one point per page). If a model jury instruction is

submitted, for instance, from O'Malley, et al., Federal Jury Practice and Instructions, (5th Edition)

or Pennsylvania Suggested Standard Civil Jury Instructions, counsel shall state whether the proposed

jury instruction is modified or unchanged. If counsel modifies a model jury instruction, additions

shall be underlined and deletions shall be placed in brackets. If a model jury instruction is

unchanged, it may be submitted by title and paragraph reference only.

At least fifteen (15) business days before the trial date, counsel shall exchange

proposed jury instructions and proposed jury interrogatories. Counsel for the plaintiff is directed to

initiate the scheduling of a meeting of all counsel to be held at least ten (10) business days before

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the trial date, at which counsel shall meet, discuss and submit to the court one complete set of agreed

upon jury instructions and jury interrogatories. The original shall be filed with the Clerk of Court.

If a good faith effort is not made to comply with this directive, the trial may be continued or

sanctions imposed on individual counsel.

If the parties are unable to agree upon certain jury instructions or jury interrogatories,

at least five (5) business days before the trial date, the party proposing the instruction or interrogatory

shall submit to the court one (1) copy of the proposed instruction or interrogatory and its citation of

authority and the party opposing the instruction or interrogatory shall submit to the court one (1)

copy of its specific objection, citation of authority and proposed alternative. The originals shall be

filed with the Clerk of Court.

At least five (5) business days before the trial date, each party shall file a trial

memorandum on the legal issues involved in the case and that party's proposed voir dire questions.

The originals shall be filed with the Clerk of Court.

At least five (5) business days before the trial date, each party shall submit to the court

a one page or less summary in non-legalese language of its contentions with reference to the facts,

theories of liability and damages. Prior to the beginning of voir dire, the other party may file

objections or alternatives to this summary. The summary will be used by the court in its preliminary

and final instructions to the jury to familiarize the jurors with the general framework of the factual

issues in the case.

A courtesy copy of the proposed jury interrogatories, jury instructions, and verdict

forms will be submitted to the chambers of Judge Tucker on a clearly labeled disc in WordPerfect

format and/or by electronic mail. 

13. (NON-JURY CASES ONLY) At least fifteen (15) business days before the trial

date, counsel shall exchange proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Counsel for the plaintiff is directed to initiate the scheduling of a meeting of all

counsel to be held at least ten (10) business days before the trial date at which counsel shall meet,

discuss and submit to the court one (1) complete set of agreed upon findings of fact and conclusions

of law. The original shall be filed with the Clerk of Court. If a good faith effort is not made to

comply with this directive, the trial may be continued or sanctions imposed on individual counsel.

With reference to those findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which the parties

are not able to agree, at least five (5) business days before the trial date each party shall submit to

the court two (2) copies of that party's proposed disputed findings of fact and conclusions of law, and

a trial memorandum on the legal issues involved in the case. The original shall be filed with the

Clerk of Court.

14. All trial exhibits, except for impeaching documents, shall be premarked and

exchanged by counsel prior to the commencement of trial. At the commencement of trial, counsel

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shall supply the court with a bench copy of each exhibit, the duplication of which is practicable (two

(2) copies in non-jury trials), and two (2) copies of a schedule of all exhibits which shall briefly

describe each exhibit.

At the time of its use, counsel shall supply the court and opposing counsel with a copy

of each impeaching document, the duplication of which is practicable.

15. Counsel are obligated to familiarize themselves with the Local Rules of Civil

Procedure of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Failure to

comply with this scheduling order or the Local Rules may result in the imposition of sanctions.

BY THE COURT:

__________________________________

Hon. Petrese B. Tucker, U.S.D.J.

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